Flushable nozzle having means for redirecting and dispersing the effluent

ABSTRACT

A spray nozzle characterized by a body portion on which one end of a shank is pivotally mounted for swinging movement toward and away from a position in which a resilient member carried by an arm depending from the shank is in sealing engagement with one face of an egress port comprising the two faces of a dihedral angle intersected by a flow passage extending through the body. When the shank is swung away from the position stated, both faces of the dihedral angle are exposed, thereby permitting the flushing from the egress port of any material which may be clogging it when said one of the angle faces is engaged with and sealed off by the resilient member.

United States Patent 1191 Pohle June 28, 1974 75] Inventor:

Werner P. Pohle, Lynn, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Spray Engineering Company,

- Burlington, Mass.

22 Filed: Mar. 5, 1973 21 App1.l lo.:337,834

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Harrison 214/42 R 2,961,10511/1960 Shubin 214/833 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood AssistantExaminer-John J. Love Attorney, Agent, or Firm Robert P. Outerbridge [57] ABSTRACT A spray nozzle characterized by a body portion on which oneendof a shank is pivotally mounted for swinging movement toward and awayfrom a position in which a resilient member carried by an arm dependingfrom the shank is in sealing engagement with one face of an egress portcomprising the two faces of a dihedral angle intersected by a flowpassage extending through the body. When the shank is swung away fromthe position stated, both faces of the dihedral angle are exposed,thereby permitting the flushing from the egress port of any materialwhich may be clogging it when said one of the angle faces is engagedwith and sealed off by the resilient member.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures FLUSHABLE NOZZLE HAVING MEANS FORREDIRECTING AND DISPERSING THE EFFLUENT BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to spray nozzles in theoperation of which a flowing streamof liquid is redi meant asolidmeansarranged exteriorly of the egress port to redirect and disperse theeffluent and change its characteristics, asfrom a solid streamsubstantially circular in cross section to a flattened or fan-shapedspray discharge or curtain.

An important application for spray nozzles of the above-described typeis in the field of effective foam control in sewage treatment plants,where a battery of such nozzles is arranged to spray and beat down thefoam that is formed and rises as the result of the reaction of sewagewith the chemicals used to treat the sewage. A nozzle designed for thispurpose is disclosed in the Hanson U.S.Pat. No. 3,066,870, granted Dec.4,

1962, and another is disclosed in the Ross US. Pat. No. 3,257,079,granted-June 2], 1966. In both these nozzles the egress port for theliquid lies in, one plane with no portion being closed off, and thedischarge impinges head on with a closely adjacent flat deflectorsurface parallel with the plane of the egress port and arranged at 90 tothe axis of discharge, thereby causing an abrupt and sharp change ofdirection of the discharge and a maximum splashing in all directionswhich requires the use of an arcuate rib or wall to control and directthe discharge downwardly toward the sewage. The spacing between theegress port and the deflector surface is narrow, with the result thatthere is frequent clogging of the egress port by particles in theeffluent, and to clear the port the deflector surface is so mounted asto be manually swingable up and out of the way of theport, therebypermitting the force of the discharge to clear and flush away the causeof clogging.

The present invention also relates to spray nozzles for use in foamcontrol in sewage treatment plants and has as its object improvementover the nozzles disclosed in the above Hanson and Ross patents. To thisend the present invention contemplates that the egress port be the twofaces of a forwardly directed dihedral angle intersected by the passagethrough which the liquid to be sprayed flows,and the present inventionfurther contemplates that one of these faces be sealed off during thespraying operation by one portion of a deflector surface another portionof which functions to redirect downwardly gradually and not abruptly thedischarge fromthe opening or egress port portion formed by the otherdihedral angle face. The present invention further contemplates thatshould clogging occur in this other or open egress port portion, thedeflector may be manually swung up and away from the egress port as awhole, thereby exposing both faces of the dihedral angle, i.e., theentire egress port, so that it may be cleared of clogging by theflushing action of the liquid discharge. The present invention alsocontemplates that while the deflector element, like that in the Hansonand Ross patents, is made of some resilient material, it is mechanicallylocked in place in its mounting without relying for this purpose uponwhat is only a frictional fit which can loosen or upon some metallicfastening means which can become corroded.

To achieve the above-contemplated ends the various features of thepresent invention reside in certain constructions, combinations, andarrangements of parts which are all fully described in the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiment and are then set forthin the appended claims by the intentional use of generic terms andexpressions that are inclusive in meaning of various modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a viewin plan of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail view in side elevation, partially in section, of theembodiment shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail view in full sectional elevation, with v the pin infull line, taken as along the line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4'is-a view in front elevation with the shank, arm, and deflectorin raised position to expose the egress port fully;

FIG. 5 is aview in side elevation of the resilient member;

, FIG. 6 is a detail view in side elevation, partially in section,corresponding to FIG. 2 but showing the axis of the through passageabove the dihedral angle edge; and

FIG. 7 is a detailview similar to FIG. 6 but showing the axis of thethrough passage below the dihedral angle edge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawing, the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is providedwith a nozzle body 10 having a rear or inlet portion 11, shown asexternally threaded for connection to a source of liquid under pressure,and a forward or discharge portion 12 the front of which consists of theupper face 13 and the lower face 14 of a forwardly directed dihedralangle. The body 10 is also provided with a through passage 15 extendingfrom the inlet'portion 11 through the dihedral angle 13-l4, therebyintersecting it to form an egress port 16, and the body 10 is completedby a pair of spaced upstanding cars 17 provided with aligned passages18.

The ears 17 receive loosely between them the rear end of a shank member19 provided with a passage 20 of appreciably greater diameter than andalignable with the ear passages 18 so that a cylindrical pivot pin 21may be received by the passages 18 and 20 to permit swinging of theshank member 19. The forward or free end of the shank member may beprovided with a solid enlargement 22 which functions as a weight toincrease the effective pressure or load exerted by the shank 19 when inforward position, as will be described.

As best shown in FIG. 4, the dihedral angle edge 23 and the axis of thepin 21 are parallel. The pin 21 may have knurling 24 (FIG. 3) at one endportion to insure a snug fit in an ear passage 18, but by reason of theloose fit of the rear end of the shank member 19 between the ears 17 andby reason of the fact that the shank passage 20 has a diameter greaterthan that of the ear passages 18, and therefore of the pin 21, the

shank 19 is capable of a slight lateral rocking movement in addition topivotal movement on the pin 21 for a purpose which will be described.

Shown as integrally formed on the rear portion of the shank member 19but ahead of its pivoting on the pin 21 is a'boss 25 extending outwardlyfrom each side of the shank l9, and therebeneath the boss 25 is providedwith a downwardly and forwardly extending integral arm 26 which isdependent from the boss 25 in such position that an area of the arm islocatable in front of the dihedral angle 13-14 when the shank 19 issubstantially horizontal, as shown in FIG. 2, this occurring because thearm 26 is stationary relatively to the shank 19 and is swingabletherewith and thereby.

The arm 26 is appreciably wider than the forward discharge portion 12 ofthe body on which the dihedral angle 13-14 is formed, and locatedrearwardly in the lower portion of the arm 26 (viewing FIG. 2) is asocket 27 from the base of which a through passage 28 of reduceddiameter extends to the front face of the arm 26. The socket is shown ascircular (FIG. 4) and is adapted to receive as an insert a resilient,i.e., rubber or rubberlike, member indicated generally at 29 in FIG. 5,which consists of a disc-like portion 30 from the top of which a shank31 of reduced diameter extends, surmounted by an enlarged, tape-red endportion 32 forming an annular shoulder 33 with the shank 31.

Because-the member 29 is of resilient material it may be readily forcedinto the socket 27 so that the disc-like portion 30 is seated thereinand so that the shank 31 is located in the passage 28 with the taperedend portion 32 extending beyond the arm 26 and with the shoulder 33engaging the front face of the arm 26. To facilitate introducing thedisc-like portion 30 into the socket 27 the former may be provided witha chamfer 34 and to facilitate introducing the tapered end portion 32into the passage 28 the latter may have a chamfer 35 at its base, but itshould be noted that by reason of the engagement of the shoulder 33 withthe arm 26 (FIG. 2) the resilient deflector 29 is mechanically locked inplace on the arm 26 against displacement during use, and as the resultof use, of the nozzle construction as is described infra. As a resultthe fit of the disc-like portion 30 in the socket 27 need not be africtionally snug fit such as would be intended to hold the portion 30in the socket 27 by such friction alone, and there is eliminated use ofa metallic fastening which could become corroded.

With particular reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, it will be noted that thelower portion of the arm 26 is cut away on its rear face therebyproviding a shoulder 36 and that the central portion of this shoulder isintersected (FIG. 4) by the upper portion of the socket 27. This upperportion thus constitutes an arcuate wall surface 37 which it will benoted is of greater depth than the thickness of the adjacent portion ofthe seated resilient member 29, this wall surface being directeddownwardly toward the discharge portion '12 and extending rearwardlyfrom the plane of the upper dihedral angle face 13 when the resilientmember 29 is engaged with i said face.

The functions of the resilient member 29 are twofold: (l) to seal offthat portion of the egress port 16 bounded by the upper dihedral angleface 13, and (2) to form a deflector for redirecting and dispersing intoa fan-shaped spray the discharge of liquid flowing to the egress port 16through the body passage 15.

For the first of these functions the location of the arm 26 on the shank19 is such that when the shank is swung to its forward position in use(FIG. 2) during spraying, the resilient member 29 is engaged with thebody discharge portion 12, and the angularity of the arm 26 with respectto the shank 19 is such that also when the shank is swung to its forwardposition during spraying the resilient member 29 engages the dihedralangle face 13 flatwise to seal it off. The weight of the shank 19including that of the englargement 22 provides sufficient load to causethe resilient member to press against and be slightly depressed by thedihedral angle face 13 to effect the sealing, and the fact that the pin21 and passages 18 and 20 pivot construction above described permits aslight lateral rocking movement during swinging of the shank 19 aboutthe axis of the pin 21 results in the resilient member 29 beingself-seating, as it were, to perfect the sealing action. It will beunderstood that for an intended pressure on the discharged liquid, i.e.,3l0 psi, the shank 19 and the enlargement 22 have sufficient weight tomaintain the resilient member seated during the spraying operation.

For the second of the above two functions for the resilient member 29,it will be noted from FIG. 2 that with the portion of the egress port 16bounded by the upper dihedral angle face 13 sealed off by the resilientmember, liquid can be discharged through only that part of the egressport 16 bounded by the lower dihedral angle face 14, and that theportion of the deflector member 29 lying directly ahead of the lowerangle face 14 and so in the path of the discharged liquid is downwardlyand forwardly directed to terminate in a curved lip 38 extending acrossthe width of the disc-like portion 30. As a result, while there is adefinite and intended redirection of the effluent liquid discharge bythe resilient member 29, it is a gradual redirection in contrast to asharply abrupt redirection such as results from a flat deflector surfacelocated at to the axis of discharge flow as in the Hanson and Rosspatents, and two important consequences of this gradual redirection incontrast to abrupt redirection are that there is a minimum of sidespread or splash of the effluent discharging liquid and the angle of thespray fan is sharply defined and regular.

As brought out above, during the spraying operation the shank 19 is in aforward position with the resilient member 29 in sealing engagement withthe upper dihedral angle face 13 of the egress port 16 as shown in FIG.2. Should the lower portion of the port 16, i,e., the portion thereofexposed at the dihedral angle face 14, become clogged with particles offoreign matter not properly strained from the liquid being sprayed, theshank 19 may be manually swung upwardly and rearwardly, as indicated inconstruction lines in FIG. 2, by reason of the pivotal mounting on thebody 10 so that the arm 26 is out of the path of the discharge, with theresult that the entire egress port 16 is exposed and the pressure of theliquid flowing through the body passage 15 causes a flushing actionwhich clears away the obstructing matter. Thereupon the shank 19 isswung back to its forward position to seal off the upper dihedral angleface 13 so that redirection and dispersing of the effluent liquid isresumed.

The egress port and deflector surface constructions described above aredesigned to produce an efficient flat spray pattern under low liquidpressure conditions, by which there is meant pressures in the order of3l0 psi as opposed to much greater pressures. It has been found,however, in some sewage treatment plants in which embodiments of thepresent invention have already been installed that the operators therehave not observed the low pressure feature and instead have had theliquid under as much as 40 psi pressure, a greatly excessive pressurewhich materially increases pumping costs and results ib the spray itselfchurning the contents of the sewage tanks and so creating more foam inaddition to the foam which embodiments of the present invention aredesigned to beat down.

This undesirable situation is, of course, corrected by the properobservance of operating instructions, but where the situation existsthere may be a tendency for the excessive pressure to cause a partiallyupward or outward splashing of the discharged liquid during the initialstage of the upward swinging of the shank 19 to clear the egress port16, this tendency being only momentary and ending as soon as theresilient member 29 is substantially out of the path of discharge fromthe egress port 16. Any such splashing is undesirable because it maycause liquid to strike the operator or may cause otherwise dry portionsof the environment of the installation to become wet, and the arcuatewall surface 37 (FIG, 2) thus functions as an impingement surface todirect downwardly any splashing occurring during the initiation of theupward swing of the shank 19. As shown in FIG. 2, the wall surface 37 isinoperative for this purpose during spraying, i.e., when the resilientmember 29 engages the port 16 to seal off the dihedral angle face 13,and functions during the initial phase of the upward swinging of theshank 19, being downwardly directed and extending rearwardly from theplane of the dihedral angle face 13 when the resilient member 29 engagesthat face to seal it off.

As a further feature of the present invention and with reference to FIG.2, it will be noted that the axis AA of the body passage intersects thedihedral angle edge 23 so that the angle faces 13 and 14 are the samesize, each being one half of the egress port 16. With a given liquidpressure the FIG. 2 construction would thus produce a fan-shaped sprayhaving a given spray angle of spread which may be regarded as standardfor that pressure. I g

If it be desired to cause the fan spray to have a smaller angle ofspread, this result can be achieved by giving the lower angle face asmaller size than the up per, while retaining the parallelism of thedihedral angle edge with the axis of the pin 21, and this is shown inFIG. 6, the angle edge 23A being located below the axis A-A of the bodypassage 15 and the larger upper angle face 13A and the smaller lowerangle face 14A corresponding to the respective faces 13 and 14 in FIG.2. The angle faces 13A and 14A make up the egress port 16A whichcorresponds to the port 16, but the angle face 14A is less than one halfof that port by reason of being smaller than the face 13A Conversely,the fan spray may be given a greater angle of spread than the standardangle noted above by causing the lower angle face to have a greater sizethan the upper, while retaining the parallelism of the angle edge withthe axis ofthe pin 21. This is shown in FIG. 7, the dihedral angle edge238 being located above the axis A-A of the body passage 15 and thesmaller upper angle face 138 and the larger lower angle face 148corresponding to the respective faces 13 and 14 in FIG. 2. The anglefaces 13B and 14B make up the egress port 168 which corresponds to theegress port 16, but the angle face 148 is more than one half of thatport by reason of being larger than the face 138. In each of FIGS. 2, 6,and 7 the disc-like portion 30 of the resilient deflector member 29engages and seals off the respective dihedral angle faces 13, 13A, and1313 so that liquid is discharged against the resilient member 29through only the exposed port portions bounded by the angle faces 14,14A and 1413, respectively.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a spray nozzle characterized by having a body portion providedwith a through passage, an egress port at one end of the through passagefor the discharge of liquid, an elongated shank member extendingforwardly of the body portion, said shank member being pivotally mountedat its rear end on the body portion for manual swinging movement aboutan axis, and a deflector for redirecting and dispersing the flow ofdischarged liquid, the improvement which comprises:

A. the egress port being formed by the intersection of said throughpassage with the two faces of a forwardly directed dihedral angle formedon said body portion;

B. an arm carried by the rear portion of the shank member adjacent tobut forwardly of its pivotal mounting and depending from said shankmember in stationary relation thereto and swingable therewith andthereby from a position in which an area of the arm is in the path ofthe discharged liquid to and from a position in which said arm area isout of the path of the discharge;

C. the arm being provided with a socket in said area and with aresilient member seated in said socket and engageable with one of thefaces of the dihe dral angle, when the arm area is in the path of thedischarged liquid, to seal off the egress port portion bounded by saidone of the faces whereby liquid is then discharged through only the portportion exposed at said other face, said resilient member providing atthat time a surface for redirecting and dispersing the flow of liquidthus discharged; and

D. the greater part of the shank member being located forwardly of boththe egress port andthe arm, when the resilient member is engaged with adihedral angle face, to provide a weight load caus ing the resilientmember normally to be maintained seated on said face for an intendedpressure on the discharged liquid,

2. Structure such as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact thatthe through passage has a central axis which intersects the edge of saiddihedral angle.

3. Structure such as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact thatthe dihedral angle edge is so located that less than one half of theegress port is exposed when the resilient member is in said face-sealingand flow redirecting and dispersing position.

4. Structure such as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact thatthe dihedral angle edge is so located that more than one half of theegress port is exposed when the resilient member is in said face-sealingand flow redirecting and dispersing position.

5. Structure such as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact thatthe depth of a portion of the arm socket wall is greater than thethickness of the adjacent portion of the resilient member when seated,thereby providing a wall surface extending beyond the exposed surface ofthe resilient member, said wall surface being downwardly directed andextending rearwardly from the plane of the face of the dihedral angleengageable with the resilient member when the resilient member is soengaged.

6. Structure such as set forth in claim il characterized by the factthat the arm is provided with a passage extending therethrough from thebase of the socket and the resilient member is provided with a shankreceived in said arm passage and having an enlarged portion engaged withthe arm beyond the arm passage to lock the resilient member in place.

7. ln a spray nozzle characterized by having a body portion providedwith a through passage, an egress port at one end of the through passagefor the discharge of liquid, and a deflector for redirecting anddispersing the flow of discharged liquid, the deflector being mountedfor manual swinging movement about an axis from a position in which asurface of the deflector is in the path of the discharged liquid toredirect and disperse the same to and from a position in which saidsurface is out of the path of the discharged liquid, the improvementwhich comprises:

A. the egress port being formed by the intersection of said throughpassage with the two faces of a forwardly directed dihedral angle formedon said body portion;

B. a portion of the deflector surface which is located in the path ofthe liquid discharge when the deflec-- tor is in flow redirecting anddispersing position being engageable with one of said faces to seal offthe egress port portion bounded thereby so that liquid is thendischarged against the deflector through only the port portion exposedat said other face;

C. the deflector being provided with a socket and with a resilientmember seated in the socket. said portion of the deflector surface whichis located in the path of liquid discharge as stated being a surface ofsaid resilient member; and

D. the depth of a portion of the socket wall being the resilient memberis so engaged.

UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,820,717 Dated June 97 WERNER P. POHLE Inventor(s) It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

From the listing of References Cited CANCEL 96 428 11/1869 Harrison.............21 +2B 2,9611105 11/1960 Shubin ...............21 +/83.3

ans SUBSTITUTE 191,964 6/77 Holloway 239/508X 066 8 0 12 62 H nson239/113 Into. 0 o looooaol 0. B OSS'QOOODOOOOIO0 00.00.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of December 1974.

(SEAL) Attest: I

I-IcCOY M. GIBSON JR. I C. I'IARSHALL DANN Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents FORM PO-IOSO (10-69) u5coMM Dc e0376.p69 u.s4GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1969 0-355-334,

1. In a spray nozzle characterized by having a body portion providedwith a through passage, an egress port at one end of the through passagefor the discharge of liquid, an elongated shank member extendingforwardly of the body portion, said shank member being pivotally mountedat its rear end on the body portion for manual swinging movement aboutan axis, and a deflector for redirecting and dispersing the flow ofdischarged liquid, the improvement which comprises: A. the egress portbeing formed by the intersection of said through passage with the twofaces of a forwardly directed dihedral angle formed on said bodyportion; B. an arm carried by the rear portion of the shank memberadjacent to but forwardly of its pivotal mounting and depending fromsaid shank member in stationary relation thereto and swingable therewithand thereby from a position in which an area of the arm is in the pathof the discharged liquid to and from a position in which said arm areais out of the path of the discharge; C. the arm being provided With asocket in said area and with a resilient member seated in said socketand engageable with one of the faces of the dihedral angle, when the armarea is in the path of the discharged liquid, to seal off the egressport portion bounded by said one of the faces whereby liquid is thendischarged through only the port portion exposed at said other face,said resilient member providing at that time a surface for redirectingand dispersing the flow of liquid thus discharged; and D. the greaterpart of the shank member being located forwardly of both the egress portand the arm, when the resilient member is engaged with a dihedral angleface, to provide a weight load causing the resilient member normally tobe maintained seated on said face for an intended pressure on thedischarged liquid.
 2. Structure such as set forth in claim 1characterized by the fact that the through passage has a central axiswhich intersects the edge of said dihedral angle.
 3. Structure such asset forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact that the dihedral angleedge is so located that less than one half of the egress port is exposedwhen the resilient member is in said face-sealing and flow redirectingand dispersing position.
 4. Structure such as set forth in claim 1characterized by the fact that the dihedral angle edge is so locatedthat more than one half of the egress port is exposed when the resilientmember is in said face-sealing and flow redirecting and dispersingposition.
 5. Structure such as set forth in claim 1 characterized by thefact that the depth of a portion of the arm socket wall is greater thanthe thickness of the adjacent portion of the resilient member whenseated, thereby providing a wall surface extending beyond the exposedsurface of the resilient member, said wall surface being downwardlydirected and extending rearwardly from the plane of the face of thedihedral angle engageable with the resilient member when the resilientmember is so engaged.
 6. Structure such as set forth in claim 1characterized by the fact that the arm is provided with a passageextending therethrough from the base of the socket and the resilientmember is provided with a shank received in said arm passage and havingan enlarged portion engaged with the arm beyond the arm passage to lockthe resilient member in place.
 7. In a spray nozzle characterized byhaving a body portion provided with a through passage, an egress port atone end of the through passage for the discharge of liquid, and adeflector for redirecting and dispersing the flow of discharged liquid,the deflector being mounted for manual swinging movement about an axisfrom a position in which a surface of the deflector is in the path ofthe discharged liquid to redirect and disperse the same to and from aposition in which said surface is out of the path of the dischargedliquid, the improvement which comprises: A. the egress port being formedby the intersection of said through passage with the two faces of aforwardly directed dihedral angle formed on said body portion; B. aportion of the deflector surface which is located in the path of theliquid discharge when the deflector is in flow redirecting anddispersing position being engageable with one of said faces to seal offthe egress port portion bounded thereby so that liquid is thendischarged against the deflector through only the port portion exposedat said other face; C. the deflector being provided with a socket andwith a resilient member seated in the socket, said portion of thedeflector surface which is located in the path of liquid discharge asstated being a surface of said resilient member; and D. the depth of aportion of the socket wall being greater than the thickness of theadjacent portion of the resilient member when seated, thereby providinga wall surface extending beyond the exposed surface of said resilientmember, said wall surface being downwardly directed and extendingrearwardly from the plane of the face of the dihedral angle engageablewith the resilient member when the resilient member is so engaged.